


The Imprisoned Damsel

by Autumn_Llleaves



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Fairy Tale Parody, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Happy Ending, Male-Female Friendship, Post-Canon, Requited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-04
Updated: 2015-02-04
Packaged: 2018-03-10 09:35:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3285431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Autumn_Llleaves/pseuds/Autumn_Llleaves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The war's finally over. Queen Daenerys in order to reunite all the separated families has Sansa brought to Casterly Rock and her lawful husband. Not that Sansa appreciates…</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Imprisoned Damsel

Lady Sansa eyed the newly crowned queen with shock. Why did everyone who promised to take her home never specify _which_  home they had in mind? And she, ever the fool, fell for it every time. 

Queen Daenerys seemed so benevolent. After winning the Iron Throne, she was more than eager to make her new subjects forget the bloody years of war. She came to the Gates of the Moon on dragonback, beside herself with apologies. 

"Lady Sansa, I know your father was my father's enemy – but I was not going to let you suffer your disgrace further because of it. I am sorry it took me so late to find you. Your name of Alayne Stone didn't help matters… But now you shall go home."

The enormous ebony dragon sailed through the sky, and within less than an hour Sansa saw a castle in front of them. Only it wasn't Winterfell. 

"But Your Grace!" Sansa exclaimed. "It's Casterly Rock!"

"Of course," the queen raised a brow. "Your lord husband was very concerned about you. He wouldn't let me rest until I found you!"

It was a cruel jape. There was a different monarch, there were dragons, things changed beyond belief, but Sansa was again left alone with the Lannisters, stuck as Tyrion's wife. 

Tyrion was away in Lannisport, so Sansa was forced to sit through a dinner with the former king and now Tyrion's ward, Tommen Waters. The boy, thankfully, was as friendly as before, but it did little to lighten Sansa's mood. 

Her lord husband arrived in the evening. The girl gave him a sour look and knelt down to greet him. Concerned, wasn't he? He simply decided he wouldn't like to die without heirs, nothing else. 

"Sansa," Tyrion hugged her. "I feared you didn't live through that bloodbath."

She stayed silent. What could she say? "And as for myself, my lord, I was hoping – particularly in the last few months – that I could be free of you."

"I was saved by Littlefinger…" she finally murmured. 

"The Queen told me," he nodded. "Sansa… why are you troubled now?"

"What do you mean, my lord?"

"Oh, _my lady wife_ , please don't start it all over again. I expected no cordial welcome, but, as you may remember, the one thing I do expect is honesty. Tommen said you've eaten nothing for dinner. You look at me as if I'm Littlefinger. What is it? You are safe. Arya, Bran and Rickon had turned up alive. Winterfell is owned by Starks again. Queen Daenerys is everything that's gracious and merciful – why, then, are you sulking?"

Sansa felt tears coming to her eyes. That was the worst thing about her husband – he cared for her. At least pretended to do so very well. Oh, it would have been easier if he had been like Joffrey – then she'd have hated him and had every right for it. But he was kind, more kind than many. She didn't love him, but she couldn't hate him. 

"You didn't expect a cordial welcome?" she whispered. "Why, then, did you urge the Queen to find me?"

"I urged her to find Arya as well, and Arya isn't even married to me," Tyrion smiled. "Sansa, you know I've always sympathized with you. You, and your sister, and your little brothers."

"And you think that because of it, I'll learn to love you and go back to being a dutiful wife?" Sansa was enraged. "I am not the little frightened girl I was anymore! I think I have at least the right to make my own choices!"

Tyrion patiently waited until she exhausted her breath, and his grin grew wider.

"So there it is, isn't it, Sansa? There is simply some other man."

She lowered her head. 

"You've just said you've grown up since King's Landing. So no need to lie and avert your eyes. Am I right?"

Sansa nodded. Her heart beat wildly. After her true identity was restored, she tried not to think of it, but… but…

"Are you maybe still a maiden?"

"By a miracle, I am," she laughed shortly. 

"Then everything shall be settled quickly and easily. If he's a lord…"

Sansa nodded quietly again. 

"And free to marry…"

Another nod, after brief hesitation. 

"I don't mind. To let our alliance between the North and the West stand, he'd better also be a bannerman of mine…"

Blushing deeply, Sansa ascertained it. Tyrion winked at her:

"Now, let me guess. I must know if I'm still as good at reading people as I like to think. Ah, yes… Is he a knight?"

"No," and she knew full well that there would be no guesswork needed anymore. There was only one man in the Westerlands who was a lord but was never knighted. 

Tyrion blew a whistle:

"Oh! I can't remember right now what the Clegane motto is, but I think it should be _Hard to Kill_. Gregor was slain two or three times before I finally fed him to Viserion, and I distinctly recall your sister saying the Hound was certainly dead."

"The Hound is no more, but Sandor is alive," she said. "We met again after I escaped Littlefinger… Sandor swore his sword to me and has helped me ever since… he never overstepped propriety… but…"

"But everything's fairly obvious from the way he stares at you," the dwarf finished.

"H-how do you know?"

"You were an innocent child back in King's Landing, but other people were more observant. When they told me the Hound rescued Ser Loras – Ser Loras! – just because you squeaked 'Don't let Ser Gregor hurt him!', I knew at once he'd got it badly."

Sansa looked at him in disbelief, part of her still fearing some Lannister trap:

"You are… you will let me go?"

"I will, and most gladly," he assured her. "I pity you – that is why I didn't annul our marriage first thing. Lord Bran is crippled and very young, and I thought that if he married you to someone else, no one could be an adequate protector for you, dear. But since the Hound – sorry, Sandor Clegane – is alive, that changes things. On the following morrow the Queen is coming for a visit, and we shall announce our annulment."

"Oh, Tyrion, thank you, thank you!" without thinking, Sansa jumped up and span him in her arms. In a moment, though, she put him down, embarrassed. 

"Sorry – I don't know what came over me…"

"You seem more at ease with me now that we are _not_ to be married," he remarked cheerily. "It is a sign that we are not meant to be."

"I hope you find a loving wife someday," Sansa patted his head. "You deserve it, truly."

"I already have found one," he chuckled. "Why do you think I'm so eager to annul our marriage?"

"And who may that be?"

"Nymeria Sand," Tyrion said, his mismatched eyes shining with a warmth Sansa had never seen before. "We got to know each other when the Queen sent me as an ambassador to Dorne."

"But I thought she hates the Lannisters!"

"Excluding me. Of course, we have had our share of fights, sharp sword against sharp tongue, but she hasn't vowed to kill me… seriously. She almost did it, though, when I said I'd stay married to you if you'd have nowhere else to go."

"Send her a raven at once, then," Sansa smiled. 

"Certainly, Sansa. On the condition that you eat a good full supper. Sandor will slash me in halves if I present him with a skeleton of you."

Laughing, Sansa hurried to the dining-hall. When Tyrion came to check on her, he saw her finishing a plate of lemoncakes. 

"That's better," he nodded. "Now, where is Sandor? I would have sent a raven to him as well, had I known."

"I told him I'd go visit Winterfell. I didn't realize what the Queen meant by taking me home…"

"The Gates of the Moon, then?"

"Exactly."

***

Sandor was practicing with young knights. The men of the Vale have kept peace for so long that it left them almost defenceless. 

The familiar clinging of swords distracted Sandor from his thoughts. It was one of the times when he wished he hadn't forsaken wine while on the Quiet Isle. His little bird went away – and though she tried to be confidant, it might be that they wouldn't be allowed to meet again. 

"The Queen will take me to Winterfell, but I'll send for you as soon as I settle everything!" she said. "Arya still hates you and Rickon's unpredictable. They must be prepared for you being my sworn sword."

And if the wolf-bitch was the same as before, she will never accept Sandor into their service. He was sure of it. 

Well, perhaps it was for the best. The little bird will soon be married off by her brothers to some lording or other, and at least Sandor won't have the torture of watching it. He should never have raised his hopes, being a lowborn dog…

"A raven for Lord Clegane! From Casterly Rock!"

Casterly Rock? He wondered as he put his sword down and walked to the rookery. Then it dawned him. The dwarf. Of course! Tyrion Lannister was still married to the little bird, and only a fool would part from loveliness itself that was Sansa Stark. Naturally the bloody Halfman writes that his lady wife no longer requires Sandor's services…

He unwrapped the letter. 

_Dear Lord Clegane_ , it read,

_I have annulled my marriage to Lady Sansa Stark, because my interests lay elsewhere. I haven't spoken of it publicly yet, though, but you have to hurry, unless you want to cut your way through a crowd of suitors for the Princess of Winterfell._

_With respect,_  
Tyrion Lannister,  
Hand of the Queen and Warden of the West. 

_Sansa is infatuated with you. I bestowed three hundred thousand golden dragons on her after the annulment._

***

The Wedding of Gold and Silver, as the singers later called it. Not only because of the expenses made, but because of the two couples married on that day at Casterly Rock. 

Tyrion Lannister and Nymeria Sand, golden of hair, gold adorning their clothes, made the first part of it. The "silver" part was not very accurate, since the only silvery object was Sansa Stark's maiden cloak. But the songs, as the second bride said herself, never get things right. 

People not acquainted closely with the newlyweds marveled at the brides' happiness. The beauty of Nymeria and Sansa was especially striking contrasted to their husbands' immense ugliness. 

When the bedding ceremony was over, the guests still talked about the strangeness of the two couples. 

Arya Stark was the one to grudgingly admit:

"Nym once said in Braavos that she wanted to kill every existing Lannister. And Sansa was dreaming of a handsome knight all the time, besides, she is aware I can't stand the Hound. So… I think it must be true love."


End file.
